How Kenshin Learned To Hop
by The Wind And The Fire
Summary: The title says it all folks! This is how the dear rurouni learned to hop...


Hop! Kenshin, Hop!

Everyone in Kyoto knew who Kenshin Himura was. Although he was sweet and kind to his elders, he could be quite the handful at times. He was a short, teenaged boy with fiery red hair secured in a tress that stretched to the middle of his thin back. He was known as the apprentice of Hiko Seijuro the 13th, the master of the Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu. No one knew Kenshin would grow up to be the Hitokiri Battousai, or, in simple terms, the man slayer. They didn't know he would bring in the new government and end the revolution. Perhaps the fact that would be the most surprising of all was that Kenshin would become a wanderer and give up his two samurai blades and draw the Sakabato, or, in simple terms once more, the reversed blade sword.

That's right, Kenshin would turn from a sweet boy, into a man who killed hundreds, perhaps even thousands, and then shift his ways and become a wanderer to repent for his sins. Of course there would always be one question that received the privilege of being asked more than any other. Even more than, "What, you're a man?" That's right; there would be fewer misconceptions than there would be curiosity about the one powerful question. And that question would be, "Where did you learn to hop like that?"

It's a mystery, really, unless you truly know the history of Kenshin Himura, the wandering samurai. So, where _did_ he learn to hop like an innocent bunny on a sunny afternoon?

Well, this is the story about how the gentle rurouni learned to hop...

IOI

Hiko, a tall man who was known for his expert skill in swordsmanship, owned a nice little house located in a forest not far from a long cliff. His young apprentice, Kenshin, had the curiosity to match a pit viper. If you ever woke up one night because you felt an odd and slippery creature snuggling its way into your blankets, you would know first hand how curious they could be. You would then learn how deadly their venom was as you suffered for a day while your master fed you antidotes that happened to be vomit encouraging plants that you never wanted to see again. You would also never want to see that !# pit viper again.

Oh yes, back to Kenshin and his curiosity. Being his inquiring self, he decided to test his capabilities of flight. If the dragon of the Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu could move with the speed of the gods and use talons with deadly accuracy and strength, why couldn't he fly as well? It didn't make sense to Kenshin! Dragons were supposed to fly, weren't they? After all, 'Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu' was the 'Soaring Dragon Blade', was it not? So, as Kenshin looked at it, he _should_ be able to fly.

In order to achieve his goal, little Kenshin supposed he needed some type of wings to get himself started. His plan was to use the red and white cape his master was so fond of, and wore constantly, as his arm extensions. Little Kenshin had already _borrowed_ two kendo sticks from master Hiko's supply shed, the place where the master also stashed his sake, and was in the process of swiping the much needed and required cape.

Hiko always bathed before dinner, so little Kenshin snuck into the bathhouse, amazingly unnoticed by his master's keen sense of hearing, and located the object of his hunt. He snatched it up and tiptoed out. A relaxed Hiko, who was currently submerged in the steaming water of his bath, smirked. His 'idiot apprentice' probably wanted to be like his good looking, strong, powerful, skilled, and undefeatable master. He shrugged it off as unimportant, figuring the boy needed to have some fun, and went back to his bath.

Kenshin carried his bundle with him, nearly tripping over the long cape as a wandering tail dragged across the grass. He quickly began spreading out the cape as he arrived at his destination, which was the cliff master Hiko so happened to live near. He cleverly braced the cape out as if it were a kite or giant pair of bat wings. As Kenshin thought, the kendo sticks worked perfectly!

Teenage Kenshin approached the cliff and cautiously peered down to rate the drop length. He concluded with: far, and ran back to his 'wings'. The young swordsman lifted his development onto his back and trotted a good fifty feet from the cliff's edge. Little Kenshin started with a moderate run, and using the speed of the Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu, increased his velocity to an impressive rate.

He reached the terminus of the cliff and pushed off with as much power as he could muster and hoped he would glide until he reached the clear hillside off in the distance.

Well, if as first you don't succeed, once said by a famous idiot, try, try, again. So Kenshin shook off the pain from his crash and climbed back up the cliff.

Attempting a different approach, Kenshin figured he'd test the wind by hopping, and hopping, and hopping... He waited for a guest of wind, not realizing how strong the breeze would be, and was swept over the cliff unprepared. Releasing a faint 'Oro', Kenshin descended towards the earth below.

The beautiful loss of branches in the trees of the area can still be observed today, and, not to mention, the surprisingly deep dent in the earth.

Once again, little Kenshin tried a new tactic. Running didn't get him anywhere, and hopping hadn't got him any farther, but he did learn a few useful bits of information. The running had given him a longer launch, and the hopping had pushed him into an updraft of air. So why not combine hopping with running? It sounded as if it would work.

Kenshin began his practice exercises, not realizing an angry Hiko was coming to find his beloved cape that was out of his possession for a little _too_ long. The guy never said he had patience...

The short samurai immediately knew who the enraged yell belonged to and sweat-dropped nervously as he looked over his shoulder. Little Kenshin swears to this day Hiko's eyes were glowing blood red as he discovered what his apprentice was doing.

Now, Kenshin knows it's not healthy to have an unhappy Hiko around, and so he takes the only actions his instincts can tell him: run like the fires of Hades have suddenly been released upon you. Or, in this case, the demonic powers of Hiko Seijuro the 13th.

In alarm, Kenshin runs, hopping along and flapping his temporary wings. If you have ever seen a cat with its tail on fire, Buddha knows Kenshin has been the cause of some, you can compare the reaction to little Kenshin's... they would be quite similar. And people wonder where the speed of the Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu comes from... nope... not from training... that's right, it comes from students running away from their ill-tempered and stuck up masters.

So little Kenshin ran, hopped, and flapped. He made a spectacular hop/jump from the cliff edge and was hit with an updraft. It lifted him into the air and out of Hiko's jumping range.

Kenshin listened from the air as his master called him every naughty word he had ever heard, and some he hadn't...

Kenshin floated upwards, trying to control his path, but was brushed about as if he were a leaf. The wind whipped him around and the young samurai began descending in Hiko's direction. Kenshin watched as his master took a hesitant step back, lifting his arms- in offence or defense, Kenshin wasn't sure. His master's face paled and his eyes became broader as his hands reached out.

Hiko caught the little future rurouni in his bear sized hands and grunted as he was thrown backwards with the force. Hiko slid across the ground, clutching his apprentice and his 'wings' safe in his massive hold. They soon came to a stop, and a slightly frazzled Kenshin sat up, looking down at his master with an innocent and nervous smile. Hiko glared at his student, eye twitching with annoyance.

The samurai received the usual 'idiot apprentice', for being stupid, a deck to the back of the head for misbehaving, and twenty extra laps for putting grass stains on his master's cape.

Although Kenshin had known he'd done something terribly wrong, he was happy. The expression Hiko had before he caught him was one the rurouni had never seen before. It was one of worry and distress, and little Kenshin would gladly repeat the act all over again, if only to see the concern that had been sketched on the master of the Hiten Mitsourougi Ryu's face.

And since the flying episode, every time Hiko caught Kenshin smiling when he had the boy doing laundry, he'd smack him on top of that unnaturally red mass of hair with the sheath of his sword. His young student had seemed so fond of hopping, he began tying a large rock to Kenshin's back, and telling him to squat and hop around his house thirty times a day.

Kenshin overall regretted his attempt at flight, and decided he wouldn't do it again.

IOI

And so, that's how Kenshin Himura, the wanderer, a.k.a. the Hitokiri Battousai, a.k.a. Shinta, learned to hop...

Owari


End file.
